A month after being charged in connection with the Ramada Princess Casino heist, Wayne Griffith, Junior Stewart and security guard Andrew Blackman denied the charge yesterday at a city court.
Griffith, 29, of 105 Nismes, West Bank Demarara; Stewart, 30, of 144 Thomas Street, Kitty and Blackman, 35, of 60 Middle Street, McDoom East Bank Demerara had been charged with armed robbery. They allegedly stole $8,951,000 from the cashiers which was the property of the Princess Casino on April 29, at Providence, East Bank Demerara.
They were not required to plead at their arraignment, but offered not guilty pleas when they reappeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan yesterday.
The men were further remanded to prison by the Chief Magistrate. The matter was adjourned until June 24.
During the attack four casino employees, Eon Garraway, 32, who is a clerk, James Gregory, Orlando Knights and Udairan Sookraj, were shot to their left hand, left foot, left hand and right hand, respectively. Lance Corporal 17352 Andrew Richardson, who is attached to the Brickdam Impact Base, was shot during a gunfight with the men while responding to a report of the robbery.
The Guyana Police Force had said in a statement that four gunmen entered the casino and discharged rounds into the air. They held up the security guard who was on duty and took away his shotgun and ammunition, they then proceeded to the cashiers, taking away foreign and local currency.
Stabroek News was told that Griffith was held after he reportedly found himself trapped in a maintenance room.
He is reported to have attempted to take off his mask and leave the premises, but the police were alerted and he was promptly arrested. A search was conducted on his person and a shotgun was recovered.
Blackman was subsequently arrested and then Stewart, who was held at his sister’s house at Vreed-en-Hoop. A bag containing $922,000 was also discovered.
